Denton Robert Anderson

Denton Robert Anderson

August 3, 1920 - May 22, 1944

 

Made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country free

 

Memorial Rites Held For Sgt. R.D. Anderson

 

Memorial rites for Staff Sergeant Robert Denton Anderson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Neils Anderson, were held Sunday, June 10, at one P.M. in the Riverside LDS chapel.  Anderson, who was reported missing in action since May 22, 1944, is now presumed dead, according to word received by the family from the war department.

 

First musical number, “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” was sung by a male quartet composed of Leonard Winmill, Dan Thomas, LaMar Elison and Bert Cutforth, accompanied by Fay Neilson.  Roach Wheeler offered the invocation, which was followed by a vocal solo, “Fear Not, Oh Ye Israel” by Orva Stander, accompanied by Mrs. Ruby Bailey.

 

Speakers were Bishop H.M. Wray, Riverside, J.A. Silvester, Roberts, Idaho and T.V. Hanks of Idaho Falls.  The last two were former teachers of Anderson’s when he was a student at Moreland high school.

 

Dan Thomas, accompanied by Fay Nielson sang “My Buddy”.

 

Members of the Stewart Hoover Post No. 23, American Legion, gave the Legion memorial ritual.  Tributes to the soldier were given by Robert Pendlebury, Ray Eskelsen, Mrs. Wilford Olsen and W.H. England.

 

After a vocal solo, “My Task”, by Mrs. Emma Coleman of St. Anthony, accompanied by Stella Parkinson, Frank Halverson pronounced the benediction. 

 

Out of town relatives and friends who journeyed to Riverside for the services were Mr. and Mrs. Lee Neilson, Ogden; Pvt. Russell Anderson, Fort Sill, Okla; Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Anderson, Salt Lake City, Mrs. Anna Coleman and sons, Mr. and Mrs. Moroni Steele and family, Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Parkinson

and daughter Stella, and son S 1/c Dean Parkinson, all of Rexburg; Mr. and Mrs. Alex Coleman, Anna Jane and John, St. Anthony; George Forsythe, Rigby; Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Hampton, Idaho Falls; Robert Peterson, Wapello; and Mrs. Ruby Bailey, Ogden.

 

Sgt. Anderson was born August 2, 1920, at Blackfoot.  He was graduated from Moreland high school with the class of 1938, and until his enlistment in January, 1942, he owned and operated a farm in the Riverside district.

 

After his induction at Fort Douglas, he received basic training at Sheppard Field, Texas, and received instructions in airplane mechanics at Chanute Field, Ill., and Buffalo, New York.  He was stationed for five months at Orlando Field, Florida.

 

Accepted as an air cadet, he trained at Santa Ana, California, Ryan Field, and Bakersfield, California, before he was reclassified because of a slight physical defect and withdrawn from pilot training.  He was sent to a gunnery school at Las Vegas, Nevada, and graduated as an aerial gunner September 1943.

 

After a brief furlough at his home in October, he joined his crew at Sioux City, Iowa, for special instruction, and they left in March, 1944, for overseas duty.

 

Records sent the family by the war department show that the B-17 on which he was gunner was carrying out the fifteenth mission, and was last seen over Kiel, Germany, when it was hit by anti-aircraft fire and exploded in mid-air.  No parachutes were seen to come from the plane. 

 

Surviving besides his parents are a sister, Mrs. Ingrid Nielson of Ogden, and the following brothers: Seaman 1/c Ross W. Anderson, with the Navy in the South Pacific; Pvt. Russell W. Anderson, Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Homer, Donald, George and Wallace Anderson, all of Riverside.